1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic systems, and more particularly, to mobile communication systems.
2. Background Art
In many parts of the world the use of mobile telephones has become ubiquitous. One popular feature available on mobile telephones is known as push-to-talk. Push-to-talk allows a mobile telephone handset to function similarly to a walkie-talkie. Typically the user selects a contact or group of contacts, presses and holds the talk button and speaks. When the user is done with speaking releasing the talk-button ends that communication. One benefit of push-to-talk is a shorter-than-normal cell phone call. Push-to-talk can also be a more efficient and convenient manner on which to communicate with frequently called parties.
Typically a request for a new contacts or group for use with push-to-talk services are handled and caused to be added to a mobile telephone handset through an external server. Contrastingly, a conventional mobile telephone handset address book service is typically located and processed directly on the mobile telephone handset.
A new push-to-talk contact or group is typically created by sending a request to create the contact or group to the external server. The mobile then waits for a confirmation from the server that the contact or group was created successfully. Until the mobile receives the confirmation the new contact or group will remain pending from the mobile's perspective. Push-to-talk calls cannot be made to pending contacts or groups. Additionally, pending contacts or groups cannot be delete because the mobile telephone handset is waiting for the confirmation from the server.
In some cases the server may not be able to create a contact or group. For example, if a contact is not valid the contact will not be created. Similarly, if one or more contacts in a group are not valid the group will not be created. Typically, the amount of time allowed for creating of a contact or group at the server is limited to a maximum time period known as a group creation time period. The length of the group creation time period can vary depending on the particular carrier, or in some cases the particular server. After the group creation time period expires the server typically deletes the contact or group associated with the specific time period at issue. In conventional systems however, the server does not communicate that the contact or group was not created to the mobile telephone handset.
When the server fails to create a new contact or group of contacts the mobile telephone handset does not delete the pending contact or group. Since push-to-talk calls cannot be made to pending contacts or groups and pending contacts or groups cannot be delete, the pending contact or group of contacts may confuse the user and/or waste resources on the mobile handset, such as memory and space on the mobile telephone user interface. Additionally, when a group is invalid due to a few invalid entries it may be more difficult for the user to contact any contacts that are valid within the invalid group.